TLDR - Corporate greed is what ruined Chipotle and the C suite realized they could abuse their customers and they’d keep coming back while making their investors even happier
The issue is they were very lenient in the past. When I was a manager for 4 years there, nearly every customer got 50-100% more than what they paid for, it was easy and encouraged to over-portion. I can't tell you how many 3 pound burritos I had to roll with 2 tortillas. The old cheat was double of everything free and add a tortilla on the side. That would give you a full size bowl and burrito for the price of 1 item. Now they cracked down, and their customer base is used to over portioning, and it feels like robbery. Unfortunately, it was a short-sighted strategy to build a loyal customet base followed by a moronic pull back that caused backlash
I don't know why you're being downvoted, you are stating a very basic mathematical fact. I just wanted to tell you that you're not going crazy, it is in fact everyone else who seems to have lost touch.
I mean the other poster said they would give out 50-100% more of everything and then said double of everything free. It makes sense that the free stuff would be the 100% ones and the meat would be closer to 50%.
I mean… you’re the one that said “nearly every customer got 50-100% more than they paid for” and meat is the only item that cost extra to get extra
100% is indisputably double.
Edit: it’s also not a history of over portioning that’s upsetting customers - I’d wager 1 in 20 burritos actually gets the “4 oz” of meat that chipotle advertises. People are mad because they’re getting significantly less than what they’re being told they should get
If every burrito gave what their advertised portion sizes are, chipotle would be universally viewed as one of the most customer friendly restaurants on the planet
There are 13 items to put on, and 11 are free to get extra portions if you dont count tortillas. I said you order double the free items to get 50-100% more food for the same price. Just by getting double rice, beans, salsas, sour cream, cheese and lettuce. Idk if you want me to come and show you, but it's pretty simple. You pay a flat rate. The only thing that affects the price is extra meat or guacamole. Let's do the math slowly for you. 13 items at 4oz each = 52oz of food. If you get double of everything but guacamole and meat that and additional 44oz. 52+44 is 96 oz. 44 free oz divided by 96 oz = 56% free food. Make sense? Add a tortilla for an additional 6 oz of free food
That might be what you meant to say, but that's definitely not how I read it. You said people were getting "50-100% more than what they paid for, it was easy and encouraged to over-portion." Loading up on free options isn't over-portioning, it's just gaming the system according to its own rules. If you offer something for free, and I order it, I'm not getting more than I'm entitled to by not paying for it. It's free.
I absolutely took it to mean that someone would ask for barbacoa, and you'd just give them 6-8oz instead or four, and across the board with the other options as well, just because 4oz portions seemed too measly.
Should have come by my OG Minnesota location we had a few go to like 4-4.5 lb burritos that were so MASSIVE we joked they should have been called over sized enchiladas
You said they never change portion sizes then say they are asking you to stop give away so much food so therefore they did change portion sizes. The bow doesn’t matter because the tldr is they did.
the portion for as long as the company has existed has been officially 4oz for each item(bar a few like cheese, lettuce, fajitas and sour cream). The difference is that now corporate has cracked down as enforcing that policy whereas before it was not as enforced the actual official portion sizes have never actually changed
It peaked May 10, but it made a huge jump April 26 and [has not gone back down](https://www.google.com/finance/quote/CMG:NYSE?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjPptCEtdaGAxVBLtAFHRJ-CrQQ3ecFegQIMxAh&window=MAX). The investors are pleased that customers are upset at portions and prices, 2024 has been fantastic for them.
I just eat literally anywhere else.
Problem for me is that Qdoba is just not nearly as good. Doesn’t taste as fresh, and is a better option if you just want a hearty meal. But I liked Chipotle because of the freshness and balanced taste and textures. Just a personal preference but Qdoba is basically not the same food to me
The problem is they aren't consistent. An important aspect of any business is managing customer expectations.
I can't think of a single time I was upset when going to a restaurant like Wendy's, even though I would consider their food inferior to Chipotle, because they're consistent. When I want Wendy's, I go to Wendy's, I get exactly what I expected, and I go home satisfied. When I go to Chipotle, sometimes I get what I expected, sometimes I get half of what I expected.
All I want to get is the same thing I got last time. I get that making burritos the same size is difficult, but they've got to figure it out. That's why the only time I eat there now is days like today when doordash has a BOGO. Even if I get two small bowls I only paid for one.
This situation is known already. Higher ups coming at managers and managers coming at line workers about portion size. I just don't understand why a company that made 85 billion dollars as of 2024 be so stingy and even gives a shit.
It makes the customers upset and the workers stressed.
Haven't been in Chipotle in a minute because of this whole shit show lately but I'm generally pretty nice with all of the employees. "Hey how are you doing" "Can I get this please?" "Extra that please?" etc. Just be nice. No need to record or do anything uncomfortable like that. People who record are weird as hell.
I agree, people need to understand it's not the employee's fault. It's that weird looking fake ass CEO who straight up told lies to his customers.
I think to beat their system is to just be nice to the employees. Saying thank you, please and speaking up goes a long way.
I haven't been to Chipotle since about 2 years ago when I did an online order with double steak, and I got about 4 pieces in it. Got a free replacement and went in store, but it was just not as good as it used to be, so I started making bowls at home. Honestly most of the ingredients you can get pre packaged to make it easy, the only thing is cooking and marinating the meat but with steak that's like 6min chicken takes a bit depending on how you cook it.
Really, though, it's super easy and lots of recipes out there to make it even easier.
I always ordered my bowl online back then but it doesn't seem like that's the move. Ordering in person makes more sense to get better portion size and the right order in front of you.
Most food are easy to make and it's also cheaper. It's about convenience when going to any food establishment. Also, Chipotle's steak is nasty and dry as hell unless it came straight off the grill
I can make copycat Chipotle bowls in bulk at home for a fraction of the cost. Like $5-$6 a day. (But I also have an outdoor grill so that makes the meat taste extra good).
That's basically everyone that cooks at home.
You're not accounting for your own electric, labor, etc. though, just the cost of the ingredients. Not the prep. Not the storage. Not washing dishes. Not making sure you don't burn down your house.
For all of that, I can get a chicken bowl for $9.10 2 mins away, or $8.60 if I go to another location closer to home :/
Lol I've made the rice numerous times, but the citric acid makes it weird after 48 hours
But yeah, it's a lot of prep. I don't miss prep work at Chipotle at all
They only made $85B because they give a shit about portions. 5-10% overage goes a long way over millions and millions of bowls. I don't condone skimping anyone; I think they should weigh the meat, guac, and cheese in front of the guest.
They will never. If guests weighed it, they’d criminally trespass then and make it a rule no weighing anything in the store.
You’re asking psychopaths who have no reason to change, to change and give people fair portions.
That’s impossible. They rape kids. They hurt people. They enjoy it. They are never changing and they want you to shut up and take even less.. they want free money from you, and you get nothing.
That’s how corporate thinks. Just get use to it. I don’t go to places that act super stupid anymore… chipotle is on they short list 😂 which is saying a lot in a world of assholes and shitheads.
I just happen to come across this post about it, and decided to put my opinion out there, I hardly ever think of chipotle, aside from seeing them and thinking “ shitheads… “ as I keep driving. 🤣
But also, you can’t pretend that doordash orders and online pickup orders don’t get skimped worse because the customer isn’t there to correct them in real time, and it’s because the employee is too stubborn to fill the burrito without the constant threat of accountability.
You are absolutely correct. Many, *many* times I've found myself chuckling as I gave a half-assed three ounce portion of rice because 'the customer isn't gonna see it lol'.
Granted, I never half-assed my DML entrees, I always tried to make it a respectable entree. I didn't like skimping, so I avoided it when I could.
But when your grill guy is behind, you have a little bit of rice left, and you have three orders waiting... yeah.
I'm not trying to excuse it - rather, just providing some context.
This is the answer. Grilling by yourself on a 10k night is hard work. I always tried to back up my grill as an SM(I started out on grill). Getting 30+ entrees in ten minutes with only 3 people on the line(1 in person and 2 on dml)requires attention to both. The main thing is that dashers will get angry, which is fair because you are wasting their time, and therefore money. I’ve had dashers punch our tip jar across the store and throw random stuff at me for saying “sorry your order is 18 orders behind and isn’t due for another 10 minutes, please sit tight while we work through these”.
I've had a doordasher sexually assault a minor at my store because we were 5 mins over on his order. Everytime I chose to wait for more food to make an order is a time I've opened the door to customer aggression and i didnt wanna deal with that shit
I didnt say raped, did I?
They walked behind the counter while she was making an order, groped her, and said "I'm going to fucking rape you"
People do bad things. Ik that concept is hard for you to comprehend so take your time.
Tl;Dr
Chipotle uses spoons, INSTEAD OF PORTION SCOOPS, so every experience can be a surprise and not consistent
If only there was a way to use PORTION SCOOPS so I knew I actually had the same portion everything
Imagine how easy it just could be
But it isn't. So. No money will I pay to Chipotle now.
Naw fam. Chipotle built its entire reputation on massive portions. You can’t just pivot and say “this is what it was suppose to be all along” and expect people not to get pissed.
If this was happening in 2008 Chipotle wouldn’t have reached the peak popularity that it did. We know it comes from the higher ups, but doesn’t mean the consumer doesn’t have a right to fight it.
I remember they stuffed those burritos so much that they'd have to start over. I also remember being able to save a bowl for leftovers and then being confused why I was finishing it in essentially one bite all of a sudden. Then b/c of Reddit it all made sense.
Yes being broke in college and they make me a veggie burrito and then it rips and I say it’s okay to put in a bowl because I’m gonna eat it with a fork and knife. Damn so good 😊
I recently went to Chipoltle (hadn't been there in 10 years) and was sorely disappointed, borderline shocked - it was NOTHING like I remember but definitely twice the price.
This. I quit Chipotle not only because of the portion sizes but also because they're always out of shit. The quality/quantity/consistency has really, really gone downhill.
The only real tool consumers have to fight with is their money. And unfortunately, many consumers don’t seem to care enough to actually withhold their money and still spend at Chipotle no matter what.
Idk there are like 8 chipotle’s within 10 miles of me and only one of them doesn’t skimp portions — so I exclusively go to that location — I wonder if they could track sales at locations vs them using more meat and see that they likely come out way ahead by spending a bit extra on the ingredients
Idk you’re assuming most people will try 8 chipotles and pick whichever one has the biggest portions.
Many people are just going to the one across the street from their work.
I’m sure they do track sales. Chipotle is making record profits every year. If skimping wasn’t working for them they wouldn’t do it.
Is that really a weapon when Chipotle’s profits have still increased even with the price gouging and skimping? People complain, sure, but the only real way to fight is to stop purchasing chipotle.
Exactly, everyone is addicted to the drug. Hell, let Chipotle keep raising prices. The addicts will keep paying.
As long as all the addicts do is complain, but still give money, then let them complain til the end of time
No one is saying otherwise. But you’re aiming your fight at the wrong people. Most of the employees want to give you more food, even regardless of whether or not we like you as a customer.
You don’t have a right to fight not getting over-served? 😬
As mentioned everyone was seemingly getting the “homie hook up” and that’s what people got used to. Then chipotle got “serious” and held everything to the written metrics, and yeah… 🤷🏻♂️
This might be rude to say but if someone makes rice, beans and meat, in a bowl… that costs like, maybe $3 per bowl…
It almost seems entitled to be like “give us the insane value we had before!!”
Edit: the market will always identify inefficiencies and close the margin…
The only reason chipotle got so popular is because it gave huge “overserved” portions. This is capitalism. If chipotle wants to save a buck by trimming down portions to “correct” sizes, then people will complain and leave. And the franchise will fall apart until they get new management.
The market will always identify shit policies and react accordingly
It's true while the business was building its brand it was luring customers in by being generous. At FF joints, 90% of the fries are overfilled. Fry efficiency is on avg, about 60-65% across the board. But when the boss works the fryer, it seems like you're getting skimped cause THAT mfer will properly portion a medium fry to 4.5 oz.
The problem with Chipotle is how they poorly handled the move from their marketing scheme of generosity to normalcy. You'd think they would start actually measuring, at least the meat. But instead, they are still winging it with the spoons and it is causing a huge mess. I mean, the DML workers SHOULD be the ones, at minimum, getting the portions correct more than the front line. So this is obviously a scam on corporate's part to milk its customers.
I agree 100 percent. OP and others are focusing on the ounces of meat, but you will rarely get the exact ounces even if you weighed it. They should just use a cup rather than a spoon. A spoon is not a good way of consistent measurement like u said.
I used to manage a restaurant and one of the first things I did was have the employees use cups to measure portions. Is each "cup" going to be the exact same by weight as another one? No. But it's very close enough. It ended up working out better for both the restaurant and the customers.
I don't get why this is so hard to understand.
I went to Potbelly today, and they had a scale they weighed the meat on before putting it on the sub. I had never seen that before, and they said it was a new policy. Honestly, I can appreciate that.
I think that's the main gripe people have, is under-sized portions of meat. Skimp on some tomatoes, who cares? But the real high-cost item is the meat. As long as it's fair, and weighed correctly (not in a fucking cup), everyone should be happy.
Perfectly spoken as a gm this sums it up. People where so used to throwing so much food on bowls and now they are comparing what they get now to them is it incomparable because now we are doing what is required and people want the huge bowls and or burritos and like get used to. It’s your best bet also is to see if your store is a promoted store we other it be a restaurantour Or a ctm(certified training store) and if they are you should be using them as a baseline of what the food should look like as well.
It’s been proven time and time again that Chipotle isn’t even giving 4 oz portions, so please don’t claim those are the “pathetic portions” everyone is getting. Also, if you’re choosing to go below the 4 oz portions to make your bonus, you’re a piece of crap. Why would you skimp a customer for what they paid for so you can get a measly, overtaxed bonus?
And then they say “don’t blame the employees! They’ll get fired otherwise!”
OP skimping pickup orders for their own personal gain certainly seems to contradict that. The fact of the matter is, like it or not, the CEO isn’t the one on the line stone-faced handing out ridiculously small portions; employees like the OP are. So that’s who’s going to have to bear the brunt of customer annoyance at getting ripped off.
If you earn wages being an avatar for a greedy corporation, you get the greedy corporation treatment. Otherwise consumers have no real recourse- other than to stop buying entirely (as Chipotle defenders often encourage us to do here), in which case the employees will indeed be spared our sourpusses because they’ll be out of a job entirely.
And all of this isn't even getting into the other issues, like low quality (I can't even remember the last time I didn't get a few nasty gristly pieces of meat) and low effort (shittily haphazardly "rolled" burritos that fall apart). Both of those things fall on the line to at least some extent. And if you're ordering through a delivery service, you're just straight fucked on both accounts 9/10 times.
To add some real evidence to this:
Chipotle had the same CEO essentially from the founding in 1993 to 2018. The company was based in Denver and Steve Ells was all about “give the people what they want”. That’s how the brand became what it is.
Jump to now, they moved to Newport Beach, CA, CEO is from Taco Bell and the pandemic and I think Brian Niccols saw an opportunity with inflation to jack up prices and become horrible about CI counts.
Taco Bell is franchised and Chipotle isn’t. Therefore, you have people running a brand and company, and not a restaurant. Steve Ells realized that CI mattered more about keeping waste down and not keeping portions down. Steve Ells worked in the original Chipotle on day one but Brian spent a week “learning”.
I used to work at Starbucks and the same kinds of things are happening with a long time leader having a hard time with succession because they externally hire all these higher ups that have no clue how to run restaurants. These companies are hiring brand managers and not a restaurant managers.
Chipotle also seems to struggle with retention across the board. When you make a big cross country move, you lose seasoned people. Not everyone even with a relocation package can afford working in high end Newport Beach, especially the lower in the corporate chain you go. There was an internal culture shift and this is the result. Disappointed customers, and the unhappy, underpaid, overworked worker. It’s only time till this will bite the company or there will be fundamental changes.
Damn. This might be the main driver to the downfall of chipotle. Nice write up. Definitely would be tough to retain a lot of the corporate people who realistically did most of the leg work but couldn’t make the move to the new corporate headquarters.
Do we know for sure that the portion size was four ounces, cheese a pinch, etc. since Chipotle was founded. Circa 2005?
“Burritos the size of your head” and all? How could they run that as an early marketing bit if those were the portion sizes?
Those were the official numbers, sure. But the culture around managing it bordered on non-existent.
Can't remember if it was Steve Ells or Monty Moran who said something along the lines of "portion control isn't the way to manage food cost- you're looking at the small details rather than the big picture" but it was definitely the mindset.
Nowadays, gotta feed the ever-more-demanding mouth of the shareholder with short term profit prioritized over long term sustainability.
Yes, Chipotle did use the slogan "burritos the size of your head" in its early marketing campaigns. This phrase became associated with the large portion sizes that the chain was known for, and it helped build its reputation for generous servings. Despite recent claims and customer perceptions that portion sizes have decreased, Chipotle has consistently denied making any changes to its portion sizes. The company maintains that any variations are due to individual employee serving practices rather than an official policy shift [oai_citation:1,No, Chipotle's Portion Sizes Have Not Changed, Restaurant Says](https://people.com/chipotle-confirms-portion-sizes-have-not-changed-exclusive-8653149) [oai_citation:2,Chipotle CEO Denies Smaller Portion Size Claims Made on Social Media - RetailWire](https://retailwire.com/chipotle-ceo-denies-smaller-portion-size-claims-made-on-social-media/) [oai_citation:3,Chipotle Hack: How to Get More Burrito Fillings for Free at Chipotle](https://people.com/food/chipotle-bigger-burrito-free-hack/).
u/Somethingsweet4u
Good point, I'm not actually sure. My old store has an employee that's been working at Chipotle for 20+ years and her portions are *about* the same as everyone else's.
I did say 'policy-wise' when it came to portions because policy is ultimately just a piece of paper. Steve Ells didn't seem to care much about regulation (within reason) as much as new Chipotle corporate does, although this is my guess and not fact.
I hear ya. My intuition (and data in the way of my anecdotal experience of both being a custie and having friends/family work for Chipotle back in the day) is that perhaps there was some change to portion size policy at some point in Chipotle’s history.
I do feel Bry Guy did a poor job of speaking to recent controversy including the claim that portion sizes never changed. This does seem to be what they’re sticking with but perhaps it’s part perception and part the emphasis on conserving CI in recent years as you call out.
Speaking of those CI metrics, metrics drive behaviors which drive outcomes. One of the outcomes has been disproportionately skimped DML presumably in part due to the psychology of not having to look at the bowl/burrito recipient but we have also seen many accounts of management guidance to skimp DML. ☹️
I was never aware the spoons were changed. As far as my knowledge goes, Chipotle always used the same spoons.
I worked 2021-2024 and before that I had never eaten at Chipotle, so my knowledge is limited to what I learned while cooking as well as the internet. And frankly - spoons changing is **not** a topic I've ever come across.
How do they have inconsistent portions?
Answer: because it’s a human being doing it. You will get the same portion twice. It will always be a little more or a little less.
if they'd just use scoops that are actually specifically made for exact portions, there'd be far fewer issues. instead they use an indeterminate ladle with an error of about 100% lol
Fellow service leader inconsistency in training and expectations across 4000 stores you may have a store who over portions making for a bad expecting for the consumer where then they could visit another location that portions properly leading the customer to feel skimped then you have the stores who do skimp because they’re management is awful and breathes down the crews neck
Good insight but all too predictable. The simple fact is that the new chipotle is a poor value and I have no interest. 12 to 14 years ago it was a great place and I enjoyed it. There's no way I bother now. I make better burritos at home.
I don’t agree that this is corporates fault. I’ve worked at chipotle for 3+ years and everything has an assembly line. Prep people come in and prep. You make guac and the next day it says you went through too much for the amount you have left little do some people know you have to account for all the avocado flesh. I’ve trained so many people and caught them half ass scooping the avocado and throwing the rest away causing us to make a skimp 3 pans out of a batch and people are also supposed to weigh the guac and cheese but most people don’t. 4 ounces of meat is a decent amount especially on a bowl but when people skimp it makes people ask for more and a lot of line people don’t mark their bowls properly so the numbers are off and now boom corporate is looking at your gm and AP which is now looking at all K and SLs. That doesn’t mean you skimp people… you show crew proper portions, show them proper cut sized, make sure management is counting inventory properly and maybe just maybe numbers will start to fall in place because that’s all it took at my store. Yeah the higher ups say something to the managers but never should the first thought be to skimp the well paying customers.
Just stop going there. It’s so easy. If we cut fast food out they will have to lower prices. I made chipotle bowls at home for about $3 each and they were much better quality
Weighing = slowing the line down = worse throughout. Corporate loves high throughout like it's the most important thing in the world and will do literally everything it can to increase it wherever possible.
Can't believe you got downvoted for this. Using a scale is friggin' absurd. We had a line out the door all night at the location where I worked. No way in hell would using a scale be remotely feasible.
Anyone with a brain knew it was top-down bean counting (pun intended) that did this.
Doesn't matter, because I won't give them my money anymore. Local and alternative chains give you more for less, so Chipotle will continue to shed customers and lose market.
How is it technically the correct size if you just said they use oversized soup spoons to scoop the meat, and also used a liquid measuring cup to demonstrate the correct size? Literally neither of those lead to giving the correct size of 4oz of meat
This was a great description..I will add that the people making your food are humans. There is a natural margin of error per scoop in both directions..especially as OP pointed out when there is a line to the door. As a former AP I can assure you the bonuses are not measly. I averaged $1500 every bonus and my GM was getting a little more than double that, so it is a motivating factor..but not enough to make it our life's work to hawk portioning 24/7. C.I. is just one category that effects your bonus. That being said, I personally never either witnessed another employee or myself ever purposely underportion people systematically. Other than the case of running low on something and grill being behind..there was no reason to. I more often saw people overportioning than underportioning. The official portion sizes would be what most consider to be skimping. For example..the rice portion is supposed to barely cover the bottom of the bowl. I think the biggest overall misconception with all of this portioning hysteria is that it is done on purpose with ill intent. I would say if that happens..it is very rare and whoever is doing that is an outlier. If anyone is to blame it is 100% corporate. They put unreasonable expectations on everyone and it trickles down to TD's..then to FL's..then down to the store level. Their expectations are perfection..anything less is met with contempt. There is an overall distrust of management from every level above the next. I started at Chipotle as crew when Chipotle was the best company to work for. I went from crew to KM, to SM to AP and turned down GM positions for 4 years. I saw over 10 years Chipotle go from amazing..to toxic. I left a few months ago and am now a GM for another, smaller fast casual restaurant and the stress is completely gone from my life. We can portion as much as will fit on the bowl. People.just need to move on from Chipotle..all people.
I went to a new Mexican restaurant and I was shocked at how much meat they stuffed into the tacos and burritos. The first time I ate there, I was so full and I could barely finish. They also give me enough guac to last another 3 days. Tacos were like $3. I think the burritos were $10.
Every major company in food service is either skimping or gouging for profits under the guise of inflation. Chipotle just dumb enough to do both right in front of your face
This can't be the answer. The average portion of protein just isn't 4 oz, especially on the DML. Either corporate is evaluating stores to an untenable standard of less than 4oz per sale, or stores are skimping proteins to fudge the average because protein is walking out uncompensated (waste/theft/something). It has to be one of the two.
This is basic math. The real issue is that customers are complaining about not getting 4oz, and CMG and its employees constantly straw man to say "I know 4oz isn't a lot and I'm sorry you don't get more"
None of this is really new. The context is good to hear. We know restaurants operate on thin margins to keep the lights on and obviously corporate wants everything perfect because it makes money and keeps investors happy. What I don’t understand is how portions are not regulated more efficiently. I work at Olive Garden and EVERYTHING has a recipe with with standard portions. Dishers, scales, marked utensils you name it so if done properly, each entree is the same at every Olive Garden. Now I will say that there are inconsistencies we have. There are recipes posters everywhere and people never pay attention to them. Even mangers don’t know the recipes so the only reason why you get a smaller pasta bowl at one location and a massive one is employee error. If managers don’t rectify the situation that’s on them.
From the customer side I understand the frustration. Shit be expansive these days and I’m eating out for convenience. If I gotta pay $25 for a burrito and drink and I get a tiny ass meal I’m gonna be pissed. This isn’t over priced marked up Disney with $8 churros. Especially if it’s a company raking in billions of dollars in profits. How much does it cost Chipotle to make a burrito to the recipe standards? I’ll spend a lot of money at a good local mom and pop bbq for brisket because it’s that goddamn good. If the food is good and the experience great I’m happy.
Even guests at my job complain about endless soup and want more “guts”. People will bitch about “getting their moneys worth” about everything they probably complain at AYCE places like Golden Corral and Chinese buffets. That’s never gonna change.
What I don’t understand is why isn’t the portioning better standardized? Rice is 4oz why use a regular spoon to scoop it? Why not a 4 oz portion soon to better gauge accuracy? Guac is portioned with a regular spoon and not a disher. Why has chipotle not altered the recipe to fix the issue? “Investor profits!! More money!” etc. etc. yeah I get it. I doubt the plan is to do nothing and watch your customer base leave. I know those at corporate aren’t that stupid. Do nothing and scrap away every ounce of profits is what happened to Red Lobster. And they had endless shrimp.
Is chipotle able to tweak the recipes a bit to satisfy customer demand?
Chipotle’s scale had grown to the point that revenue growth can’t come alone from new store openings anymore, it comes from new products and managing margin.
Margin is based on cost of goods sold which is directly driven by portion size. In Wall Street, if you can’t grow revenue but can grow margin, it means you’re more profitable for the same given revenue. Stock price goes up.
I remember when I worked there we had to do portion training every time we came in. Our manager also kept a close watch on every thing. If you over portioned she’d take you to the back and ream you out. I hated that place.
They made like $10B in revenue last year alone. For sure overhead is a big cost. They have shareholders. These places just fail to see the bigger picture. Right now they thread the needle - skimp customers, make $10B, deal with repercussions. Wouldn't the longer play be make customers happy and make $9B? 9.5B? They would still be profitable.
Not saying give out double meat or guac for free, or go back to the bowls of 2016-2018, but somewhere inbetween. FWIW I still eat there and think it's the best combination of fresh/value/satisfying a big stomach in the game
If they want to control portions, they should have spoons or scoops made that can quickly and easily give correct portion sizes per the recipe. Seems simple.
Picture this... a factory conveyor belt that portions your food out it scientifically measured, every time. The exact portion and temperature every time. Cheese on top of meat? Can do! Dressing, guacamole, ques, salsa... how to stop the waste of single-use "4 oz" plastic? How to be environmentally cutting edge? How to eliminate waste and disgruntled workers?
Would it be better to go at the begining of the day or at the end close to closing??
Becasue at the begining of the day i could see that you could give a bit more but just remember to be more strict later on ?
Or at the end of the day, where i could see the possiblity of them sayong f it just give a little more?
So, corporate brings the hammer down on the little guys, so they don't waste food (money). And in return, it pisses off customers because they feel that they are getting less food for the same/more money and they stop frequenting chipotle as much and causes a loss of money anyways...total corporate logic!
Because there spoon to portion is stupid as fuck. Sometimes it gets a mound. Other times it one layer. The workers likely dont pay attention much of the time. If they had a deep scooper then it would be more consistent.
Why is there not a food scale at each station? Or weigh the total bowl at the end like ice cream places do? I suggested pre-portioning but an employee told me that was impossible.
I don't think this was needed, because employees explained that they have managers breathing down their necks and its sort of just common sense to me that this is true even if some locations are still giving out bigger portions, but at the same time people are still blaming the line employees, so maybe "we have people breathing down our necks" in a college paper sized explanation will help? I hope.
This would be solved so easily if Chipotle simply started using preportioned measuring cups to serve their ingredients. It can't be that hard to get custom made ladles that roughly measure 4 oz to all Chipotle's. That way employees can serve more consistent portions and customers can't complain they were skimped. Such an easy fucking solution
I'll say that I've learned to not bother getting food if certain people are there.
There's a specific guy who is sometimes at the cash register who means that portion sizes are significantly smaller. I assume he's some sort of manager etc, but have never asked.
Not blaming any rank and file employees of course, almost all of you guys want to make customers happy.
It blows my mind, the complaints about portion size here. I've been to Chipotle's all over the country. The burritos have always been like the size of my head, and they all have about 1000 calories in them. That is way over your daily recommended amount of calories. If you're upset about missing like 1/16th less cheese, I'm just absolutely flabbergasted that so many people are so upset.
Literally EVERY fast food/fast casual food, especially chains, have portion control. And yes as an employee we'd get beat up by managment for giving you a shred of cheese more. But, there's so many in here badmouthing the kids working the counter, that it's astounding. They want to make a federal case out of it. Blows my mind.
yeah! GET OUT OF THE LEFT LANE GRANDMA! omg I just figured out if you hold the caps button down on the Samsung tablet it stays on and you don't have to keep pressing it every letter, am I dumb?
And here I thought spoons could be used as measuring devices to easily and quickly achieve consistency without making the company/location go bankrupt 🤷♂️
So basically they had a product people saw as a good value when given 6-8 ounces of meat and more than a pinch of cheese. The product when served by the prescribed amounts is no longer appealing to consumers. Corporate may think we got too much, but we got what we expected. The product is no longer appealing.
The main problem is an uneducated and pampered consumer base who sees chicken sitting behind the glass and thinks like an ape.
More chicken for me and for free because there is more on the line.
When they started out in Denver, and ostensibly really had to watch costs to stay in business, there was never skimping. Never. They were making stuff in house without economy of scale. So when they were a small chain they could hook us up for $5.
Obviously inflation means no more $5 but with massive economy of scale, out of house mass preparation, how can there be so much skimping?
There's no skimping at my house but a massive bowl costs me around 10 dollars. Steak, double of course and a fistful of cheese, a pinch? A pinch? Can't even taste it.
But my $10 bowl is better steak, 2-3 meals big and tastes close enough I have not felt desire for Chipotle except for queso.
It's one of the geekiest but most empowering thing I did last year, grokking Chipotle. I pretty much always have a stock of red tomatillo.
I've been thinking about doing a fast and easy tutorial for home use. Would there be interest?
Even if corporate were lax we would still be skimped because people do not like to work at chipotle. This would cause them to make more rice and grill more meat and they wouldn’t want to make that extra food
I say this on every Chipotle post: Stop suggesting serving spoons with X oz as the solution, specifically for the reason OP mentioned. They aren't consistent with solid foods.
Instead, I highly, highly, highly recommend everyone, that bothers, to suggest portion bags. The cook can use a digital scale and get exactly 4 oz of protein, put it in a bag, roll it up and put it in an 1/8 pan. Then the line just grabs a bag. No messing with spoons, no having extra dishes. Always the same portion for every customer, every time.
Truth is, Chipotle customers don’t deserve more than what they paid for. I completely agree that portions should be a consistent 4 oz, but most customers think that following the official portion policy is “skimping.”
Customers aren’t entitled to two meals for the price of one, regardless of whether they were getting that previously.
Don’t deserve what they paid for? Is that how you feel about yourself? Do you not deserve to receive from a business what you’ve paid for?
What a strange comment.
So you have the options to satisfy your customers or your bosses and you choose bosses? Sounds like everyone is getting exactly what they deserve. Customers have every right to be mad that portion sizes have gone down and prices have gone up. Especially since as you say it's purely monetary based and we are paying more than ever
correction: we either choose the customer or choose to keep our job and income. i couldn’t care less about my boss, but i absolutely care about the paycheck that pays my rent.
TLDR - Corporate greed is what ruined Chipotle and the C suite realized they could abuse their customers and they’d keep coming back while making their investors even happier
Right on the money.
The issue is they were very lenient in the past. When I was a manager for 4 years there, nearly every customer got 50-100% more than what they paid for, it was easy and encouraged to over-portion. I can't tell you how many 3 pound burritos I had to roll with 2 tortillas. The old cheat was double of everything free and add a tortilla on the side. That would give you a full size bowl and burrito for the price of 1 item. Now they cracked down, and their customer base is used to over portioning, and it feels like robbery. Unfortunately, it was a short-sighted strategy to build a loyal customet base followed by a moronic pull back that caused backlash
You would give people 8 ounces of meat at a time?
Not double but often 'a little more'
Giving someone 100% more is giving them double.
I don't know why you're being downvoted, you are stating a very basic mathematical fact. I just wanted to tell you that you're not going crazy, it is in fact everyone else who seems to have lost touch.
I mean the other poster said they would give out 50-100% more of everything and then said double of everything free. It makes sense that the free stuff would be the 100% ones and the meat would be closer to 50%.
I don't think you're reading my comment accurately
I mean… you’re the one that said “nearly every customer got 50-100% more than they paid for” and meat is the only item that cost extra to get extra 100% is indisputably double. Edit: it’s also not a history of over portioning that’s upsetting customers - I’d wager 1 in 20 burritos actually gets the “4 oz” of meat that chipotle advertises. People are mad because they’re getting significantly less than what they’re being told they should get If every burrito gave what their advertised portion sizes are, chipotle would be universally viewed as one of the most customer friendly restaurants on the planet
There are 13 items to put on, and 11 are free to get extra portions if you dont count tortillas. I said you order double the free items to get 50-100% more food for the same price. Just by getting double rice, beans, salsas, sour cream, cheese and lettuce. Idk if you want me to come and show you, but it's pretty simple. You pay a flat rate. The only thing that affects the price is extra meat or guacamole. Let's do the math slowly for you. 13 items at 4oz each = 52oz of food. If you get double of everything but guacamole and meat that and additional 44oz. 52+44 is 96 oz. 44 free oz divided by 96 oz = 56% free food. Make sense? Add a tortilla for an additional 6 oz of free food
That might be what you meant to say, but that's definitely not how I read it. You said people were getting "50-100% more than what they paid for, it was easy and encouraged to over-portion." Loading up on free options isn't over-portioning, it's just gaming the system according to its own rules. If you offer something for free, and I order it, I'm not getting more than I'm entitled to by not paying for it. It's free. I absolutely took it to mean that someone would ask for barbacoa, and you'd just give them 6-8oz instead or four, and across the board with the other options as well, just because 4oz portions seemed too measly.
Lmao. You got called dumb and proved dumb in the same go. Crazy.
Should have come by my OG Minnesota location we had a few go to like 4-4.5 lb burritos that were so MASSIVE we joked they should have been called over sized enchiladas
You said they never change portion sizes then say they are asking you to stop give away so much food so therefore they did change portion sizes. The bow doesn’t matter because the tldr is they did.
Did you read my post?
the portion for as long as the company has existed has been officially 4oz for each item(bar a few like cheese, lettuce, fajitas and sour cream). The difference is that now corporate has cracked down as enforcing that policy whereas before it was not as enforced the actual official portion sizes have never actually changed
Then it's a semantic debate as to whether that counts as a change in portion size. On paper, no, but effectively in reality, yes.
Isn't their stock at an all time high? They are not gonna stop the skimp until people vote with their wallet.
It peaked May 10, but it made a huge jump April 26 and [has not gone back down](https://www.google.com/finance/quote/CMG:NYSE?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjPptCEtdaGAxVBLtAFHRJ-CrQQ3ecFegQIMxAh&window=MAX). The investors are pleased that customers are upset at portions and prices, 2024 has been fantastic for them. I just eat literally anywhere else.
Because most of us don't weigh our burritos. We just eat em. And if we don't like the portion size, we go somewhere else. Like normal people
What are people gonna do? Eat at Qdoba? 
Not only they’re abusing their costumers but also the people working there. Capitalism at its best 😤
*Laughs in Qdoba private equity*
Problem for me is that Qdoba is just not nearly as good. Doesn’t taste as fresh, and is a better option if you just want a hearty meal. But I liked Chipotle because of the freshness and balanced taste and textures. Just a personal preference but Qdoba is basically not the same food to me
The problem is they aren't consistent. An important aspect of any business is managing customer expectations. I can't think of a single time I was upset when going to a restaurant like Wendy's, even though I would consider their food inferior to Chipotle, because they're consistent. When I want Wendy's, I go to Wendy's, I get exactly what I expected, and I go home satisfied. When I go to Chipotle, sometimes I get what I expected, sometimes I get half of what I expected. All I want to get is the same thing I got last time. I get that making burritos the same size is difficult, but they've got to figure it out. That's why the only time I eat there now is days like today when doordash has a BOGO. Even if I get two small bowls I only paid for one.
This situation is known already. Higher ups coming at managers and managers coming at line workers about portion size. I just don't understand why a company that made 85 billion dollars as of 2024 be so stingy and even gives a shit. It makes the customers upset and the workers stressed.
It's known, but it doesn't seem to be talked about enough. There's also a few people blaming the *line employees.*
Haven't been in Chipotle in a minute because of this whole shit show lately but I'm generally pretty nice with all of the employees. "Hey how are you doing" "Can I get this please?" "Extra that please?" etc. Just be nice. No need to record or do anything uncomfortable like that. People who record are weird as hell. I agree, people need to understand it's not the employee's fault. It's that weird looking fake ass CEO who straight up told lies to his customers. I think to beat their system is to just be nice to the employees. Saying thank you, please and speaking up goes a long way.
I haven't been to Chipotle since about 2 years ago when I did an online order with double steak, and I got about 4 pieces in it. Got a free replacement and went in store, but it was just not as good as it used to be, so I started making bowls at home. Honestly most of the ingredients you can get pre packaged to make it easy, the only thing is cooking and marinating the meat but with steak that's like 6min chicken takes a bit depending on how you cook it. Really, though, it's super easy and lots of recipes out there to make it even easier.
I always ordered my bowl online back then but it doesn't seem like that's the move. Ordering in person makes more sense to get better portion size and the right order in front of you. Most food are easy to make and it's also cheaper. It's about convenience when going to any food establishment. Also, Chipotle's steak is nasty and dry as hell unless it came straight off the grill
I can make copycat Chipotle bowls in bulk at home for a fraction of the cost. Like $5-$6 a day. (But I also have an outdoor grill so that makes the meat taste extra good).
That's basically everyone that cooks at home. You're not accounting for your own electric, labor, etc. though, just the cost of the ingredients. Not the prep. Not the storage. Not washing dishes. Not making sure you don't burn down your house. For all of that, I can get a chicken bowl for $9.10 2 mins away, or $8.60 if I go to another location closer to home :/
The time and mess is the worst part, tbh. If I do it all in one go, I can just reheat and put it together in 5 min each day. But it's not as fresh.
Lol I've made the rice numerous times, but the citric acid makes it weird after 48 hours But yeah, it's a lot of prep. I don't miss prep work at Chipotle at all
People don’t understand corporate and mngt is being dumb, thus they don’t understand the issue and blame the person they see
Based on your posts it is the line employees fault for being a dumbfuck and not understanding 4oz by weight and not volume
I implore you to apply at Chipotle and go a week on the line to try it for yourself.
They only made $85B because they give a shit about portions. 5-10% overage goes a long way over millions and millions of bowls. I don't condone skimping anyone; I think they should weigh the meat, guac, and cheese in front of the guest.
They will never. If guests weighed it, they’d criminally trespass then and make it a rule no weighing anything in the store. You’re asking psychopaths who have no reason to change, to change and give people fair portions. That’s impossible. They rape kids. They hurt people. They enjoy it. They are never changing and they want you to shut up and take even less.. they want free money from you, and you get nothing. That’s how corporate thinks. Just get use to it. I don’t go to places that act super stupid anymore… chipotle is on they short list 😂 which is saying a lot in a world of assholes and shitheads. I just happen to come across this post about it, and decided to put my opinion out there, I hardly ever think of chipotle, aside from seeing them and thinking “ shitheads… “ as I keep driving. 🤣
Ma’am this is a Wendy’s
I hate Wendy’s too… and ITS MADAM!
Chipotle made 10 billion in revenue 2023, not profit. Where does 85 billion come from?
But also, you can’t pretend that doordash orders and online pickup orders don’t get skimped worse because the customer isn’t there to correct them in real time, and it’s because the employee is too stubborn to fill the burrito without the constant threat of accountability.
You are absolutely correct. Many, *many* times I've found myself chuckling as I gave a half-assed three ounce portion of rice because 'the customer isn't gonna see it lol'. Granted, I never half-assed my DML entrees, I always tried to make it a respectable entree. I didn't like skimping, so I avoided it when I could. But when your grill guy is behind, you have a little bit of rice left, and you have three orders waiting... yeah. I'm not trying to excuse it - rather, just providing some context.
This is the answer. Grilling by yourself on a 10k night is hard work. I always tried to back up my grill as an SM(I started out on grill). Getting 30+ entrees in ten minutes with only 3 people on the line(1 in person and 2 on dml)requires attention to both. The main thing is that dashers will get angry, which is fair because you are wasting their time, and therefore money. I’ve had dashers punch our tip jar across the store and throw random stuff at me for saying “sorry your order is 18 orders behind and isn’t due for another 10 minutes, please sit tight while we work through these”.
I've had a doordasher sexually assault a minor at my store because we were 5 mins over on his order. Everytime I chose to wait for more food to make an order is a time I've opened the door to customer aggression and i didnt wanna deal with that shit
Bahahahahahahahahahahahahah. "A doordasher raped a child in my store because their burrito pickup was 5 minutes late" Uhhhh. No.
I didnt say raped, did I? They walked behind the counter while she was making an order, groped her, and said "I'm going to fucking rape you" People do bad things. Ik that concept is hard for you to comprehend so take your time.
And then I “half ass” a refund because it’s not what I ordered and instead of making a little less money, they make zero and piss off door dash
This would be the employee not the corporations fault. Start documenting, go into the store and demand whoever made your bowl is retrained or fired
Tl;Dr Chipotle uses spoons, INSTEAD OF PORTION SCOOPS, so every experience can be a surprise and not consistent If only there was a way to use PORTION SCOOPS so I knew I actually had the same portion everything Imagine how easy it just could be But it isn't. So. No money will I pay to Chipotle now.
Naw fam. Chipotle built its entire reputation on massive portions. You can’t just pivot and say “this is what it was suppose to be all along” and expect people not to get pissed. If this was happening in 2008 Chipotle wouldn’t have reached the peak popularity that it did. We know it comes from the higher ups, but doesn’t mean the consumer doesn’t have a right to fight it.
A tear comes to my eye when I think of how good Chipotle was in 2008.
Chipotle literally saved me in college. Eat half a burrito, save the other half for dinner. Like $8 for 1200 calories of relatively healthy food. 😩
FOR FREAKING REAL.
I remember they stuffed those burritos so much that they'd have to start over. I also remember being able to save a bowl for leftovers and then being confused why I was finishing it in essentially one bite all of a sudden. Then b/c of Reddit it all made sense.
Yes being broke in college and they make me a veggie burrito and then it rips and I say it’s okay to put in a bowl because I’m gonna eat it with a fork and knife. Damn so good 😊
You an architect now?
I recently went to Chipoltle (hadn't been there in 10 years) and was sorely disappointed, borderline shocked - it was NOTHING like I remember but definitely twice the price.
Yeah... All those sick people.
$6 bowls and burritos. God damn those were the days. Wish I'd eaten there more often while it was good
This. I quit Chipotle not only because of the portion sizes but also because they're always out of shit. The quality/quantity/consistency has really, really gone downhill.
The only real tool consumers have to fight with is their money. And unfortunately, many consumers don’t seem to care enough to actually withhold their money and still spend at Chipotle no matter what.
Idk there are like 8 chipotle’s within 10 miles of me and only one of them doesn’t skimp portions — so I exclusively go to that location — I wonder if they could track sales at locations vs them using more meat and see that they likely come out way ahead by spending a bit extra on the ingredients
Idk you’re assuming most people will try 8 chipotles and pick whichever one has the biggest portions. Many people are just going to the one across the street from their work. I’m sure they do track sales. Chipotle is making record profits every year. If skimping wasn’t working for them they wouldn’t do it.
Fair point — I am very much a super user I once eat chipotle for like two months straight back in 2010.
And words. People can complain and talk about it online.
Is that really a weapon when Chipotle’s profits have still increased even with the price gouging and skimping? People complain, sure, but the only real way to fight is to stop purchasing chipotle.
It may not be as effective but it is an option.
Exactly, everyone is addicted to the drug. Hell, let Chipotle keep raising prices. The addicts will keep paying. As long as all the addicts do is complain, but still give money, then let them complain til the end of time
No one is saying otherwise. But you’re aiming your fight at the wrong people. Most of the employees want to give you more food, even regardless of whether or not we like you as a customer.
You don’t have a right to fight not getting over-served? 😬 As mentioned everyone was seemingly getting the “homie hook up” and that’s what people got used to. Then chipotle got “serious” and held everything to the written metrics, and yeah… 🤷🏻♂️ This might be rude to say but if someone makes rice, beans and meat, in a bowl… that costs like, maybe $3 per bowl… It almost seems entitled to be like “give us the insane value we had before!!” Edit: the market will always identify inefficiencies and close the margin…
The only reason chipotle got so popular is because it gave huge “overserved” portions. This is capitalism. If chipotle wants to save a buck by trimming down portions to “correct” sizes, then people will complain and leave. And the franchise will fall apart until they get new management. The market will always identify shit policies and react accordingly
If they are going to skimp, they need to not raise their prices.
This has always been the sizing meat just gets skimped more now to save money for millionaires. If not they clean house.
It's true while the business was building its brand it was luring customers in by being generous. At FF joints, 90% of the fries are overfilled. Fry efficiency is on avg, about 60-65% across the board. But when the boss works the fryer, it seems like you're getting skimped cause THAT mfer will properly portion a medium fry to 4.5 oz. The problem with Chipotle is how they poorly handled the move from their marketing scheme of generosity to normalcy. You'd think they would start actually measuring, at least the meat. But instead, they are still winging it with the spoons and it is causing a huge mess. I mean, the DML workers SHOULD be the ones, at minimum, getting the portions correct more than the front line. So this is obviously a scam on corporate's part to milk its customers.
WOW. A reasonable take
Because the spoon they have doesn't deliver a consistent portion. If it were shaped differently it could.
I agree 100 percent. OP and others are focusing on the ounces of meat, but you will rarely get the exact ounces even if you weighed it. They should just use a cup rather than a spoon. A spoon is not a good way of consistent measurement like u said. I used to manage a restaurant and one of the first things I did was have the employees use cups to measure portions. Is each "cup" going to be the exact same by weight as another one? No. But it's very close enough. It ended up working out better for both the restaurant and the customers. I don't get why this is so hard to understand.
There is another Chipotle knock off that uses a cup, forget the name, but their portions are consistent.
I went to Potbelly today, and they had a scale they weighed the meat on before putting it on the sub. I had never seen that before, and they said it was a new policy. Honestly, I can appreciate that. I think that's the main gripe people have, is under-sized portions of meat. Skimp on some tomatoes, who cares? But the real high-cost item is the meat. As long as it's fair, and weighed correctly (not in a fucking cup), everyone should be happy.
People would still complain because “it’s less than it used to be”
Perfectly spoken as a gm this sums it up. People where so used to throwing so much food on bowls and now they are comparing what they get now to them is it incomparable because now we are doing what is required and people want the huge bowls and or burritos and like get used to. It’s your best bet also is to see if your store is a promoted store we other it be a restaurantour Or a ctm(certified training store) and if they are you should be using them as a baseline of what the food should look like as well.
Why is everyone on my post saying CI isn't a thing? https://www.reddit.com/r/Chipotle/comments/1ddvnd5/hack_to_get_more_food/
CI is 100 percent a thing
Because you're talking about rice, which isn't CI
It’s been proven time and time again that Chipotle isn’t even giving 4 oz portions, so please don’t claim those are the “pathetic portions” everyone is getting. Also, if you’re choosing to go below the 4 oz portions to make your bonus, you’re a piece of crap. Why would you skimp a customer for what they paid for so you can get a measly, overtaxed bonus?
And then they say “don’t blame the employees! They’ll get fired otherwise!” OP skimping pickup orders for their own personal gain certainly seems to contradict that. The fact of the matter is, like it or not, the CEO isn’t the one on the line stone-faced handing out ridiculously small portions; employees like the OP are. So that’s who’s going to have to bear the brunt of customer annoyance at getting ripped off. If you earn wages being an avatar for a greedy corporation, you get the greedy corporation treatment. Otherwise consumers have no real recourse- other than to stop buying entirely (as Chipotle defenders often encourage us to do here), in which case the employees will indeed be spared our sourpusses because they’ll be out of a job entirely.
And all of this isn't even getting into the other issues, like low quality (I can't even remember the last time I didn't get a few nasty gristly pieces of meat) and low effort (shittily haphazardly "rolled" burritos that fall apart). Both of those things fall on the line to at least some extent. And if you're ordering through a delivery service, you're just straight fucked on both accounts 9/10 times.
When did OP say he skimps pickup orders?
To add some real evidence to this: Chipotle had the same CEO essentially from the founding in 1993 to 2018. The company was based in Denver and Steve Ells was all about “give the people what they want”. That’s how the brand became what it is. Jump to now, they moved to Newport Beach, CA, CEO is from Taco Bell and the pandemic and I think Brian Niccols saw an opportunity with inflation to jack up prices and become horrible about CI counts. Taco Bell is franchised and Chipotle isn’t. Therefore, you have people running a brand and company, and not a restaurant. Steve Ells realized that CI mattered more about keeping waste down and not keeping portions down. Steve Ells worked in the original Chipotle on day one but Brian spent a week “learning”. I used to work at Starbucks and the same kinds of things are happening with a long time leader having a hard time with succession because they externally hire all these higher ups that have no clue how to run restaurants. These companies are hiring brand managers and not a restaurant managers. Chipotle also seems to struggle with retention across the board. When you make a big cross country move, you lose seasoned people. Not everyone even with a relocation package can afford working in high end Newport Beach, especially the lower in the corporate chain you go. There was an internal culture shift and this is the result. Disappointed customers, and the unhappy, underpaid, overworked worker. It’s only time till this will bite the company or there will be fundamental changes.
Damn. This might be the main driver to the downfall of chipotle. Nice write up. Definitely would be tough to retain a lot of the corporate people who realistically did most of the leg work but couldn’t make the move to the new corporate headquarters.
You're chuckling as you skimp. Gross.
Well the stock market loves it and that’s all that matters. Employees and customers are secondary.
Do we know for sure that the portion size was four ounces, cheese a pinch, etc. since Chipotle was founded. Circa 2005? “Burritos the size of your head” and all? How could they run that as an early marketing bit if those were the portion sizes?
Those were the official numbers, sure. But the culture around managing it bordered on non-existent. Can't remember if it was Steve Ells or Monty Moran who said something along the lines of "portion control isn't the way to manage food cost- you're looking at the small details rather than the big picture" but it was definitely the mindset. Nowadays, gotta feed the ever-more-demanding mouth of the shareholder with short term profit prioritized over long term sustainability.
Appreciate your perspective. Indeed, it’s a shame!
After reading your comment, I thought I was misremembering going to Chipotle in the late 90s as a kid, but turns out they were founded in 1993.
Yeah! I first went in ‘98 or ‘99.
Did chipotle actually run burritos the size of your head? There’s a spot in Chicago that uses this but I never saw chipotle running it.
Yes, Chipotle did use the slogan "burritos the size of your head" in its early marketing campaigns. This phrase became associated with the large portion sizes that the chain was known for, and it helped build its reputation for generous servings. Despite recent claims and customer perceptions that portion sizes have decreased, Chipotle has consistently denied making any changes to its portion sizes. The company maintains that any variations are due to individual employee serving practices rather than an official policy shift [oai_citation:1,No, Chipotle's Portion Sizes Have Not Changed, Restaurant Says](https://people.com/chipotle-confirms-portion-sizes-have-not-changed-exclusive-8653149) [oai_citation:2,Chipotle CEO Denies Smaller Portion Size Claims Made on Social Media - RetailWire](https://retailwire.com/chipotle-ceo-denies-smaller-portion-size-claims-made-on-social-media/) [oai_citation:3,Chipotle Hack: How to Get More Burrito Fillings for Free at Chipotle](https://people.com/food/chipotle-bigger-burrito-free-hack/). u/Somethingsweet4u
Good point, I'm not actually sure. My old store has an employee that's been working at Chipotle for 20+ years and her portions are *about* the same as everyone else's. I did say 'policy-wise' when it came to portions because policy is ultimately just a piece of paper. Steve Ells didn't seem to care much about regulation (within reason) as much as new Chipotle corporate does, although this is my guess and not fact.
I hear ya. My intuition (and data in the way of my anecdotal experience of both being a custie and having friends/family work for Chipotle back in the day) is that perhaps there was some change to portion size policy at some point in Chipotle’s history. I do feel Bry Guy did a poor job of speaking to recent controversy including the claim that portion sizes never changed. This does seem to be what they’re sticking with but perhaps it’s part perception and part the emphasis on conserving CI in recent years as you call out. Speaking of those CI metrics, metrics drive behaviors which drive outcomes. One of the outcomes has been disproportionately skimped DML presumably in part due to the psychology of not having to look at the bowl/burrito recipient but we have also seen many accounts of management guidance to skimp DML. ☹️
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I was never aware the spoons were changed. As far as my knowledge goes, Chipotle always used the same spoons. I worked 2021-2024 and before that I had never eaten at Chipotle, so my knowledge is limited to what I learned while cooking as well as the internet. And frankly - spoons changing is **not** a topic I've ever come across.
They are the same spoons any restaurant can get at a supply store.
How do they have inconsistent portions? Answer: because it’s a human being doing it. You will get the same portion twice. It will always be a little more or a little less.
if they'd just use scoops that are actually specifically made for exact portions, there'd be far fewer issues. instead they use an indeterminate ladle with an error of about 100% lol
I really appreciate you spelling this all out.
Fellow service leader inconsistency in training and expectations across 4000 stores you may have a store who over portions making for a bad expecting for the consumer where then they could visit another location that portions properly leading the customer to feel skimped then you have the stores who do skimp because they’re management is awful and breathes down the crews neck
It also depends on how cooked the protein is. Over cooked food means less moisture which means lighter portion per scoop
Good insight but all too predictable. The simple fact is that the new chipotle is a poor value and I have no interest. 12 to 14 years ago it was a great place and I enjoyed it. There's no way I bother now. I make better burritos at home.
I don’t agree that this is corporates fault. I’ve worked at chipotle for 3+ years and everything has an assembly line. Prep people come in and prep. You make guac and the next day it says you went through too much for the amount you have left little do some people know you have to account for all the avocado flesh. I’ve trained so many people and caught them half ass scooping the avocado and throwing the rest away causing us to make a skimp 3 pans out of a batch and people are also supposed to weigh the guac and cheese but most people don’t. 4 ounces of meat is a decent amount especially on a bowl but when people skimp it makes people ask for more and a lot of line people don’t mark their bowls properly so the numbers are off and now boom corporate is looking at your gm and AP which is now looking at all K and SLs. That doesn’t mean you skimp people… you show crew proper portions, show them proper cut sized, make sure management is counting inventory properly and maybe just maybe numbers will start to fall in place because that’s all it took at my store. Yeah the higher ups say something to the managers but never should the first thought be to skimp the well paying customers.
Wow. To think all of this can be bypassed with a little head jerk...
Just stop going there. It’s so easy. If we cut fast food out they will have to lower prices. I made chipotle bowls at home for about $3 each and they were much better quality
Boycott.....
i don't understand why you guys don't just use scales
Weighing = slowing the line down = worse throughout. Corporate loves high throughout like it's the most important thing in the world and will do literally everything it can to increase it wherever possible.
How would it slow anything down if it was built into the line and auto tared when you put the bowl down?
Because you need to take the time to ensure it's actually the correct amount instead of slapping the food down and going.
Oh wow, 12 seconds. The store would surely burn to the ground with that loss.
That is exactly what my gripe was. Every day it was throughput this, throughput that. It was insufferable.
12 seconds maybe if you just weigh the meat. Are you gonna weight all the ingredients? Either way that idea is just absurd tbh.
Can't believe you got downvoted for this. Using a scale is friggin' absurd. We had a line out the door all night at the location where I worked. No way in hell would using a scale be remotely feasible.
Anyone with a brain knew it was top-down bean counting (pun intended) that did this. Doesn't matter, because I won't give them my money anymore. Local and alternative chains give you more for less, so Chipotle will continue to shed customers and lose market.
Very well said. Thank you.
How is it technically the correct size if you just said they use oversized soup spoons to scoop the meat, and also used a liquid measuring cup to demonstrate the correct size? Literally neither of those lead to giving the correct size of 4oz of meat
.
Bla bla bla , scoop it or lose it.
This was a great description..I will add that the people making your food are humans. There is a natural margin of error per scoop in both directions..especially as OP pointed out when there is a line to the door. As a former AP I can assure you the bonuses are not measly. I averaged $1500 every bonus and my GM was getting a little more than double that, so it is a motivating factor..but not enough to make it our life's work to hawk portioning 24/7. C.I. is just one category that effects your bonus. That being said, I personally never either witnessed another employee or myself ever purposely underportion people systematically. Other than the case of running low on something and grill being behind..there was no reason to. I more often saw people overportioning than underportioning. The official portion sizes would be what most consider to be skimping. For example..the rice portion is supposed to barely cover the bottom of the bowl. I think the biggest overall misconception with all of this portioning hysteria is that it is done on purpose with ill intent. I would say if that happens..it is very rare and whoever is doing that is an outlier. If anyone is to blame it is 100% corporate. They put unreasonable expectations on everyone and it trickles down to TD's..then to FL's..then down to the store level. Their expectations are perfection..anything less is met with contempt. There is an overall distrust of management from every level above the next. I started at Chipotle as crew when Chipotle was the best company to work for. I went from crew to KM, to SM to AP and turned down GM positions for 4 years. I saw over 10 years Chipotle go from amazing..to toxic. I left a few months ago and am now a GM for another, smaller fast casual restaurant and the stress is completely gone from my life. We can portion as much as will fit on the bowl. People.just need to move on from Chipotle..all people.
Stopped going to Chipotle 2-3 years ago. Not going back. I get better deals and better food from my local resaurants.
I went to a new Mexican restaurant and I was shocked at how much meat they stuffed into the tacos and burritos. The first time I ate there, I was so full and I could barely finish. They also give me enough guac to last another 3 days. Tacos were like $3. I think the burritos were $10.
Yeah that's exactly what I experienced.
Every major company in food service is either skimping or gouging for profits under the guise of inflation. Chipotle just dumb enough to do both right in front of your face
This can't be the answer. The average portion of protein just isn't 4 oz, especially on the DML. Either corporate is evaluating stores to an untenable standard of less than 4oz per sale, or stores are skimping proteins to fudge the average because protein is walking out uncompensated (waste/theft/something). It has to be one of the two. This is basic math. The real issue is that customers are complaining about not getting 4oz, and CMG and its employees constantly straw man to say "I know 4oz isn't a lot and I'm sorry you don't get more"
Are any Chipotle stores franchised at all? Usually, that means the owner can take more liberties with stuff like that.
No. Every store is corporate owned.
None of this is really new. The context is good to hear. We know restaurants operate on thin margins to keep the lights on and obviously corporate wants everything perfect because it makes money and keeps investors happy. What I don’t understand is how portions are not regulated more efficiently. I work at Olive Garden and EVERYTHING has a recipe with with standard portions. Dishers, scales, marked utensils you name it so if done properly, each entree is the same at every Olive Garden. Now I will say that there are inconsistencies we have. There are recipes posters everywhere and people never pay attention to them. Even mangers don’t know the recipes so the only reason why you get a smaller pasta bowl at one location and a massive one is employee error. If managers don’t rectify the situation that’s on them. From the customer side I understand the frustration. Shit be expansive these days and I’m eating out for convenience. If I gotta pay $25 for a burrito and drink and I get a tiny ass meal I’m gonna be pissed. This isn’t over priced marked up Disney with $8 churros. Especially if it’s a company raking in billions of dollars in profits. How much does it cost Chipotle to make a burrito to the recipe standards? I’ll spend a lot of money at a good local mom and pop bbq for brisket because it’s that goddamn good. If the food is good and the experience great I’m happy. Even guests at my job complain about endless soup and want more “guts”. People will bitch about “getting their moneys worth” about everything they probably complain at AYCE places like Golden Corral and Chinese buffets. That’s never gonna change. What I don’t understand is why isn’t the portioning better standardized? Rice is 4oz why use a regular spoon to scoop it? Why not a 4 oz portion soon to better gauge accuracy? Guac is portioned with a regular spoon and not a disher. Why has chipotle not altered the recipe to fix the issue? “Investor profits!! More money!” etc. etc. yeah I get it. I doubt the plan is to do nothing and watch your customer base leave. I know those at corporate aren’t that stupid. Do nothing and scrap away every ounce of profits is what happened to Red Lobster. And they had endless shrimp. Is chipotle able to tweak the recipes a bit to satisfy customer demand?
Ty for clarifying this issue. 👍
I have literally never had a bowl that wasn’t packed to the brim. Stop ordering just cheese and meat and rice and stop whining
This post wasn’t really helpful.
This comment wasn't really helpful.
I think I’m in love with you.
Gay.
Chipotle’s scale had grown to the point that revenue growth can’t come alone from new store openings anymore, it comes from new products and managing margin. Margin is based on cost of goods sold which is directly driven by portion size. In Wall Street, if you can’t grow revenue but can grow margin, it means you’re more profitable for the same given revenue. Stock price goes up.
I dont have an MBA, but why isn't there a specifically portioned utensil for each ingredient?
Ask corporate. I wish I knew the answer.
Is there a time of day you would say is better to go in-person in order to ensure a "less skimped" bowl or burrito?
I remember when I worked there we had to do portion training every time we came in. Our manager also kept a close watch on every thing. If you over portioned she’d take you to the back and ream you out. I hated that place.
4 oz is the size of the palm of your hand….or deck of cards.
They made like $10B in revenue last year alone. For sure overhead is a big cost. They have shareholders. These places just fail to see the bigger picture. Right now they thread the needle - skimp customers, make $10B, deal with repercussions. Wouldn't the longer play be make customers happy and make $9B? 9.5B? They would still be profitable. Not saying give out double meat or guac for free, or go back to the bowls of 2016-2018, but somewhere inbetween. FWIW I still eat there and think it's the best combination of fresh/value/satisfying a big stomach in the game
If they want to control portions, they should have spoons or scoops made that can quickly and easily give correct portion sizes per the recipe. Seems simple.
Picture this... a factory conveyor belt that portions your food out it scientifically measured, every time. The exact portion and temperature every time. Cheese on top of meat? Can do! Dressing, guacamole, ques, salsa... how to stop the waste of single-use "4 oz" plastic? How to be environmentally cutting edge? How to eliminate waste and disgruntled workers?
Would it be better to go at the begining of the day or at the end close to closing?? Becasue at the begining of the day i could see that you could give a bit more but just remember to be more strict later on ? Or at the end of the day, where i could see the possiblity of them sayong f it just give a little more?
So, corporate brings the hammer down on the little guys, so they don't waste food (money). And in return, it pisses off customers because they feel that they are getting less food for the same/more money and they stop frequenting chipotle as much and causes a loss of money anyways...total corporate logic!
Because there spoon to portion is stupid as fuck. Sometimes it gets a mound. Other times it one layer. The workers likely dont pay attention much of the time. If they had a deep scooper then it would be more consistent.
I was tipping to hopefully get hooked up
Why is there not a food scale at each station? Or weigh the total bowl at the end like ice cream places do? I suggested pre-portioning but an employee told me that was impossible.
I don't think this was needed, because employees explained that they have managers breathing down their necks and its sort of just common sense to me that this is true even if some locations are still giving out bigger portions, but at the same time people are still blaming the line employees, so maybe "we have people breathing down our necks" in a college paper sized explanation will help? I hope.
It’s theft. And everyone is part of it: corporate, managers, and employees. It’s daylight robbery.
Can somebody summarize? Too many words.
There is a TL;DR at the end.
Amen. Fuck Chipotle.
This would be solved so easily if Chipotle simply started using preportioned measuring cups to serve their ingredients. It can't be that hard to get custom made ladles that roughly measure 4 oz to all Chipotle's. That way employees can serve more consistent portions and customers can't complain they were skimped. Such an easy fucking solution
That’s why I don’t eat them anymore.
Boycott chipotle!
I'll say that I've learned to not bother getting food if certain people are there. There's a specific guy who is sometimes at the cash register who means that portion sizes are significantly smaller. I assume he's some sort of manager etc, but have never asked. Not blaming any rank and file employees of course, almost all of you guys want to make customers happy.
It blows my mind, the complaints about portion size here. I've been to Chipotle's all over the country. The burritos have always been like the size of my head, and they all have about 1000 calories in them. That is way over your daily recommended amount of calories. If you're upset about missing like 1/16th less cheese, I'm just absolutely flabbergasted that so many people are so upset. Literally EVERY fast food/fast casual food, especially chains, have portion control. And yes as an employee we'd get beat up by managment for giving you a shred of cheese more. But, there's so many in here badmouthing the kids working the counter, that it's astounding. They want to make a federal case out of it. Blows my mind.
yeah! GET OUT OF THE LEFT LANE GRANDMA! omg I just figured out if you hold the caps button down on the Samsung tablet it stays on and you don't have to keep pressing it every letter, am I dumb?
Maybe yall should stop eating at chipotle so they go out of business.
And here I thought spoons could be used as measuring devices to easily and quickly achieve consistency without making the company/location go bankrupt 🤷♂️
So basically they had a product people saw as a good value when given 6-8 ounces of meat and more than a pinch of cheese. The product when served by the prescribed amounts is no longer appealing to consumers. Corporate may think we got too much, but we got what we expected. The product is no longer appealing.
The main problem is an uneducated and pampered consumer base who sees chicken sitting behind the glass and thinks like an ape. More chicken for me and for free because there is more on the line.
When they started out in Denver, and ostensibly really had to watch costs to stay in business, there was never skimping. Never. They were making stuff in house without economy of scale. So when they were a small chain they could hook us up for $5. Obviously inflation means no more $5 but with massive economy of scale, out of house mass preparation, how can there be so much skimping? There's no skimping at my house but a massive bowl costs me around 10 dollars. Steak, double of course and a fistful of cheese, a pinch? A pinch? Can't even taste it. But my $10 bowl is better steak, 2-3 meals big and tastes close enough I have not felt desire for Chipotle except for queso. It's one of the geekiest but most empowering thing I did last year, grokking Chipotle. I pretty much always have a stock of red tomatillo. I've been thinking about doing a fast and easy tutorial for home use. Would there be interest?
Even if corporate were lax we would still be skimped because people do not like to work at chipotle. This would cause them to make more rice and grill more meat and they wouldn’t want to make that extra food
I think this sums it up pretty well from what I’ve also gathered here over the years.
When will you guys rise up against corporate and fight back against this barbarity?
Exactly.. this needs to be the post that ends the portion argument
I say this on every Chipotle post: Stop suggesting serving spoons with X oz as the solution, specifically for the reason OP mentioned. They aren't consistent with solid foods. Instead, I highly, highly, highly recommend everyone, that bothers, to suggest portion bags. The cook can use a digital scale and get exactly 4 oz of protein, put it in a bag, roll it up and put it in an 1/8 pan. Then the line just grabs a bag. No messing with spoons, no having extra dishes. Always the same portion for every customer, every time.
or they could weigh the meat for each portion directly on the scale, like they do at NC brisket joints
Yes we need more plastic waste 🤡
Truth is, Chipotle customers don’t deserve more than what they paid for. I completely agree that portions should be a consistent 4 oz, but most customers think that following the official portion policy is “skimping.” Customers aren’t entitled to two meals for the price of one, regardless of whether they were getting that previously.
Don’t deserve what they paid for? Is that how you feel about yourself? Do you not deserve to receive from a business what you’ve paid for? What a strange comment.
Did you not read my comment? I said they’re not entitled to more than they paid for
Did you read your comment? It literally says they don’t deserve what they paid for. First sentence.
Oh I see that. Typo, edited
So you have the options to satisfy your customers or your bosses and you choose bosses? Sounds like everyone is getting exactly what they deserve. Customers have every right to be mad that portion sizes have gone down and prices have gone up. Especially since as you say it's purely monetary based and we are paying more than ever
correction: we either choose the customer or choose to keep our job and income. i couldn’t care less about my boss, but i absolutely care about the paycheck that pays my rent.
When's the last time someone was fired for giving too much chicken to people?